Festival Merchandise Manager: Drive Fan Experience

Live Nation Entertainment Inc; Greater London; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Tickets to shows and festivals

Unlimited annual leave

Office gym and fitness classes

Subsidised lunch

Job summary

Live Nation is seeking a Merchandise Manager to build and lead a best‑in‑class programme across UK festival brands, creating profitable product experiences that fans love to wear and share. You’ll shape product strategy, manage supplier relationships, and drive revenue through on-site and online channels.

The role collaborates closely with the SVP Marketing and festival leadership to extend brand identity across Wearables, licensing opportunities and cross‑brand collaborations, delivering impact

Qualifications

• Proven experience in merchandise, buying, retail, consumer products, licensing or e-commerce, ideally within live entertainment, music, fashion, sport, youth culture or another brand-led environment.
• Experience managing suppliers, manufacturers, licensees and/or retail operators, with a practical understanding of production lead times, supply chain and quality control.
• The ability to take a creative idea through to a commercially viable product and a compelling fan experience.
• Excellent stakeholder-management skills and confidence working with senior leaders, external production partners, festival teams and brand partners.
• A highly organised, hands‑on and calm approach, with the judgement to prioritise and solve problems in a fast-moving live‑events environment.
• Deep affinity with music, festivals, fashion and culture, and an instinct for what fans will value and share.

Responsibilities

• Manage the merchandise vision and commercial strategy.
• Create festival‑specific merchandise propositions that reflect each brand’s audience, cultural position and creative identity, while identifying opportunities for portfolio‑wide scale and efficiency.
• Build integrated seasonal and event‑led trading calendars across on‑site retail, e‑commerce, pre‑order, limited‑edition drops and relevant third‑party channels.
• Identify new product categories, licensing opportunities and collaborations that can grow each festival into a year‑round franchise.
• Set commercial targets, own forecasts and present clear performance plans and recommendations to senior stakeholders.
• Partner with production companies and retail operators to deliver high‑quality, commercially effective on‑site retail experiences.
• Manage suppliers, manufacturers, licensees and fulfilment partners, ensuring product quality, sustainability, delivery timelines, cost control and service levels meet Live Nation's standards.
• Establish robust critical paths and readiness plans for every festival, resolving issues quickly in a live‑event environment where timing and execution are everything.
• Undertake post‑event reconciliation, using learnings to improve future ranges, buys and customer experience.
• Act as the central merchandise lead between the SVP Marketing, festival stakeholders, production companies, Finance, Partnerships, Legal, Operations, e‑commerce and external retail partners.
• Translate festival marketing plans and audience insight into product stories, launch moments and retail activations that amplify campaign objectives.
• Build trusted relationships with festival teams, balancing shared standards and commercial discipline with the individuality of each festival brand.
• Ensure all activity is aligned with licensing, brand governance, rights, health and safety, sustainability and responsible sourcing requirements.
• Turn audience, trend and commercial insight into clear actions - improving product selection, pricing, retail layout, creative treatment, marketing support and partner strategy.
• Monitor youth culture, fashion, music, festivals and retail innovation to ensure Live Nation's merchandise remains current, differentiated and culturally relevant.
• Build repeatable ways of working, templates and best practices that raise the standard of merchandise delivery across the UK festival portfolio.

Skills

Merchandise

Buying

Retail

Consumer products

Licensing

E-commerce

Job description

Live Nation is seeking a Merchandise Manager to build and lead a best‑in‑class programme across UK festival brands, creating profitable product experiences that fans love to wear and share. You’ll shape product strategy, manage supplier relationships, and drive revenue through on-site and online channels.

The role collaborates closely with the SVP Marketing and festival leadership to extend brand identity across Wearables, licensing opportunities and cross‑brand collaborations, delivering impact